LANZAROTE 1   UD LAS PALMAS C 0

This is why we love football! A commanding second half performance heeded no reward, then in the 86^th minute the Rojillos concede a penalty and just about everyone in the stadium thought “when will this luck change?” In the third minute of injury time and with the crowd roaring, the little Brazilian struck gold with a beauty and claimed all three points.

The visitors who top the division began the game well. The quality of the youngsters from Las Palmas was evident with their slick passing but they faced an experienced Rojillo defence that hadn’t conceded in four matches.

Even with the majority of possession Las Palmas couldn’t force the Lanzarote keeper Rúyman into making a save in the first half. Rojillos new signing Ismael Traoré was teasing the visitors defence with his quick foot work, in the 41^st minute and again in the 43^rd minute he struck narrowly past the far post.

Lanzarote came out for the second half believing that they had weathered the storm and it was now their turn to push forward.

The 19 year old super Brazilian Alyson began stretching the Gran Canarian side by running at them and giving them huge cause for concern. In the 53^rd minute Ismael came close with a header then five minutes later Ayoze Pérez fired in a belter from 20 yards but it went straight into the solid arms of the Las Palmas keeper.

Lanzarote were well on top but just couldn’t convert their chances. In the 66^th minute Keita forced the keeper into a good save from a header. Substitute Rodrigo showed blistering pace in the 72nd minute down the left wing but still his strike was well blocked by a Las Palmas defender who conceded a corner kick.

From the resulting corner, defender Raúl headed against the crossbar and it just appeared it was to be one of those days. The tiring Ismael having put in an excellent debut game was replaced by local youngster Kevin Lemes and joined the six other local players on the pitch.

Completely against the run of play and with only four minutes remaining Adrían Machín just clipped the heal of the Las Palmas striker Samuel as they crossed paths and the official had no hesitation in awarding a penalty kick for the visitors. The wave of despondency swept through the crowd, and then to the delight of almost everyone there, the penalty strike from the same player hit the left hand corner of the crossbar and was cleared.

The fans then played their part and urged the Rojillos forward. A header was cleared off the goal line for a corner but Lanzarote kept pressing. Moments later and from that corner that was played short to Alyson, a touch then a swivel of the hips gave him the room for a strike and he belted it low into the far left corner winning the match at the death.

Lanzarote move up into 4^th position and into the playoff places whilst Las Palmas C has their lead at the top reduced to one point. Next Sunday the Rojillos travel to Fuerteventura to face second from bottom side UD Gran Tarajal.

GOALS

1-0 min 90+3 Alyson